Taking anti-HIV medication consistently and properly is a critical issue for patients with HIV. Drug regimens are complex; when regimens are not taken properly, HIV can become resistant to the drugs. Taking anti-HIV medication properly leads to improved health. Children and adolescents with HIV face unique challenges to taking HIV medication properly. This study will look at the relationship between how children cope with the responsibility for taking medication and the child's language, memory, attention, behavior, and academic skills. This study is open to children and adolescents who are currently enrolled in the PACTG 219C study (Long-Term Effects of HIV Exposure and Infection in Children).

Further study details as provided by National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID):

Estimated Enrollment:

200

Study Start Date:

January 2004

Study Completion Date:

October 2006

Detailed Description:

Medication adherence is a critical issue for HIV infected children and adolescents because of drug resistance and the increased complexity of treatment regimens. Children and adolescents with HIV face depression, anxiety, denial, and rebellion that may interfere with their motivation to take medication. Depression and self-perceived social support have been found to predict regimen adherence in adults with HIV. Children with other chronic diseases are less likely to adhere to their medication regimens if they also have behavioral or emotional problems; assessing emotional and behavioral function in children and adolescents with HIV may help in predicting adherence and explaining adherence failure. This study will correlate cognitive, behavioral, and psychosocial functioning with measures of virologic suppression and immunological status, and it will compare self-report and pill count measures of adherence in a randomly selected subset of perinatally infected HIV participants of PACTG 219C.

Children and adolescents currently enrolled in PACTG 219C will be randomly selected for this study, which will last for 48 weeks. At entry, participants will undergo neuropsychological evaluation, including academic achievement, attention, memory, language comprehension, and behavior assessments, and complete a health beliefs questionnaire. Both the participants and their parents or primary caregivers will complete questionnaires at study entry and Weeks 24 and 48. Adherence will be evaluated from self-reported and pill count measures (Weeks 4 and 24) and the PACTG 219C Adherence Module (Weeks 24 and 48).

Eligibility

Ages Eligible for Study:

8 Years to 19 Years

Genders Eligible for Study:

Both

Accepts Healthy Volunteers:

No

Criteria

Inclusion Criteria

HIV-1 perinatal infection

Already enrolled and in active follow-up in PACTG 219C

Can communicate in English or Spanish

On antiretroviral medication regimen at the time of enrollment, regardless of compliance with regimen, with no planned treatment interruptions

Exclusion Criteria

Acquired HIV via routes other than perinatal transmission or source of HIV infection is unknown

HIV-2 infection

Contacts and Locations

Choosing to participate in a study is an important personal decision. Talk with your doctor and family members or friends about deciding to join a study.
To learn more about this study, you or your doctor may contact the study research staff using the Contacts provided below.
For general information, see Learn About Clinical Studies.

Please refer to this study by its ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT00073424